Author Topic: fleece falling out after recovering from sickness  (Read 3860 times)

wonderpupp

  • Joined Dec 2010
fleece falling out after recovering from sickness
« on: May 30, 2012, 11:28:08 am »
My sheep called Colin (he's a very special sheep) had worms, then liver fluke in April, and the vet cured him of that. (Lucky) Then he got maggots in his belly wool (would have been flystrike, but I had to shear some wool off him to get rid of the maggots) and he didn't walk for a while (still recovering from Fluke), then I cut lots of wool off his back / shoulders (a good couple of kilos) which helped him get up and walk again.  Then a bit of bloat as the hedgerows got greener, but it lasted about a day tops.  It's been really hot, he's healthier and happy again now, and this morning, his remaining fleece is falling off - I noticed fresh new fleece underneath.
 
Is this just because he's been poorly, and now he's better, his wool is growing again and the gap in the middle from when he was sick means the old fleece is falling off?
Or should I be worried about something else on poor Colin?
 
He's not scabby anywhere, and nothing nasty under the falling fleece...
He's not stressed to look at.
Any comments / suggestions? Or is my gut instinct right?
 

shep53

  • Joined Jan 2011
  • Dumfries & Galloway
Re: fleece falling out after recovering from sickness
« Reply #1 on: May 30, 2012, 11:58:27 am »
This is normal after a sheep has been ill or had nutritional stress  :farmer:

lachlanandmarcus

  • Joined Aug 2010
  • Aberdeenshire
Re: fleece falling out after recovering from sickness
« Reply #2 on: May 30, 2012, 12:07:50 pm »
definitely normal - dont worry at all about it. Stress and illness cause it, the wool will grow back and its one less to shear :-))

SallyintNorth

  • Joined Feb 2011
  • Cornwall
  • Rarely short of an opinion but I mean well
    • Trelay Cohousing Community
Re: fleece falling out after recovering from sickness
« Reply #3 on: May 30, 2012, 02:31:30 pm »
Yup, a sheep which has been ill will have a weakness in the wool dating from that point.  Later on, the wool will break along the line of weakness, giving you a one-time self-shearing sheep.  :D  Usually they're fine after that.
Don't listen to the money men - they know the price of everything and the value of nothing

Live in a cohousing community with small farm for our own use.  Dairy cows (rearing their own calves for beef), pigs, sheep for meat and fleece, ducks and hens for eggs, veg and fruit growing

wonderpupp

  • Joined Dec 2010
Re: fleece falling out after recovering from sickness
« Reply #4 on: May 30, 2012, 04:10:38 pm »
Thanks guys for the reassurance.
 
He is such a special little sheep, is Colin.  :sheep:
 
 

lachlanandmarcus

  • Joined Aug 2010
  • Aberdeenshire
Re: fleece falling out after recovering from sickness
« Reply #5 on: May 30, 2012, 04:40:12 pm »
hee hee! Colin the sheep!! love it :-)))) :sheep: ;D

Remy

  • Joined Dec 2011
Re: fleece falling out after recovering from sickness
« Reply #6 on: May 31, 2012, 08:56:30 am »
This happened to two of mine earlier in the year who were very ill, it got to the point where I literally just pulled it all off!  They both looked far better than my shorn ones do!
1 horse, 2 ponies, 4 dogs, 2 Kune Kunes, a variety of sheep

 

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